Cotton picker



y 15,1947- R. s. CURLEY 2, 23,928

COTTON PICKER Filed Dec. 8, 1943' 2 Sheets-Sheet \\\\\\\\WIIIIIIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIIIII/III/IIII July 15; 1947.

R.S.CURuEY COTTON PICKER Filed Dec. 8, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 15, 1947 W COTTON PICKER Robert S. Curley, Biddeford, Maine, assignor to SacoeLowell Shops, Boston, Mass, .a corpora- .tion of Maine Application December 8, 1943, Serial No. 513,334

4 Claims. .1

This invention relates to machines used in preparing cotton for spinning and is more especially concerned with cotton picking machines. .As is well understood by those skilled in this art, a cotton picker takes cotton either from a lap or from a supply of loose cotton, performs a cleaning and beating operation on it, and works it into the form of a sheet which may or may not be wound to produce a lap.

Such a machine includes a rotary heater to which the cotton is fed by one or more feed rolls, the beater picking from the rolls or from a series of pedal bars associated with a roll. In either event it is customary to support the beater shaft for adjustment to vary the spacing of "the beater from the feed rolls or the pedal bars, as the case may be; Also, the beater is substantially enclosed in .a casing and a strong air current flows through it to carry the cotton away from the beater and to the condenser cylinders at the rear of the casing.

For the better classes of work it is important that the sheet delivered by the machine shall be as uniform as possible, both longitudinally and transversely. Various expedients are provided to produce this result lengthwise of the sheet, but considerable trouble is customarily experienced with maintaining the desired degree of transverse uniformity. Thi has long been a fact, and much experimental and research work has been done in an endeavor to correct this difiiculty. It is a particularly troublesome factor in machines equipped with heaters of th skeleton type such, for example, asth'e well known Kirschner beater.

The present invention deals with this problem and aims to devise a thoroughly practical solution for it.

The nature of the invention will b readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical, sectional view through a cotton picker embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is an angular view of the beater of the picker shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a. vertical, sectional view on substantially the line 3-3, Fig. 1, with some parts cut away; and

Fig. 4 is an end view of a small portion of the machine adjacent to the beater shaft.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the construction there shown comprises a skeleton type beater 2, in this case of the Kirschner or carding form, mounted on a horizontal shaft 3, and enclosed in the usual casing 4. Th cotton is fed to it from any suitable source by a driven feed roll 5 cooperating with a set of pedal bars 6. When the mach'ineis in operation the beater picks cotton from the pedals and knocks it downward and rearwardly where it is picked up by a current of air drawn through the grid 1. The air current carries the cotton upwardly and backwardly to the condenser cylinders 8 and 9 where it is deposited and later taken oli by the delivery rolls H). They ,feedit to the calender stack indicated, in general, at l2. A blower or fan l3 produces the necessary air flow.

So far as th construction above described is concerned, it is like that of th orthodox cotton picker.

While most of the air used in conveying the cotton flows upwardly between the grid bars I, some of it also comes inthrough the holes M, Fig. '3, provided in th casing 4 for the passage therethrough of the beater shaft 3.. And these holes are made larger than necessary merely to accommodate the shaft because of the necessity for adjusting the beater toward and from the pedal bars 6 and the feed roll 5. For the purposes of this adjustment the bearing blocks l6, Fig. 4, for the beater shaft 3 are supported at each end of the beater casing on a flange of the casing itself, and the holes for the bolts I'I which clamp said block in position pass through slots in said flange, these slots being ample in length to permit the desired range of adjustment. A substantial part of the air entering the beater casing flows through th apertures l4.

As a result of much experimentation I have found that the difficulty above described of producing a sheet which is substantially uniform transversely is due, in some way, to the air flowing in through the holes l4. Apparently this causes eddy currents in the beater casing which disturb the uniform distribution of the cotton. If this is the difliculty, then it would naturally be supposed that closing the two apertures l4 would correct the faulty condition. That, however, has not proved to be the case, but I have found that if the ends of the beater are closed and made of circular form, as for example by securing disks l5 to them, then a sheet is produced having a very high degree of transverse uniformity.

The disks should be substantially the same radial dimensions as the beater itself so that the edges of the disks will register approximately with th ends of the pins or needles on the beater,

although considerable tolerance is permissible in this dimension. Also, the same idea can be applied to other forms of beaters, such, for example, as the common blade beaters, with the same beneficial results.

Apparently the effect of this change in the beater construction is to produce a smooth, substantially uniform flow of air around the greater part, at least, of the peripheral surface of the beater, and thus to prevent the formation of those eddy currents which are produced in the prior art constructions. construction prevents the entrance of air into the body of the beater from the ends where it will be discharged from the periphery of the beater due to centrifugal force, or what may be termed the fan or blower action of the beater. If air is prevented from entering the body, of the beater through its ends, then all of the air within the entire beater structure tends to revolve with it, at the same speed as the beater, and the fan action above described, and which is normally produced in any prior art skeleton type beater, is eliminated. In its place is a revolving cylinder of air. This is the best explanation of the improved result that I am able to give, but, regardless of what the reasons for that result may be, the important fact is the result itself;

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be evident that the exact construction adopted may be varied to suit the requirements of different beater constructions of the skeleton type.

Having thus described my invention, What I desire to claim as new is:

1. A cotton picking machine including a skeleton type beater for cotton Working machines provided with circular imperforate disks closing its opposite ends, said disks having an outside diameter approximately equal to the maximum outside diameter of the fiber working peripheral area of the beater, said disks substantially preventing the end infiow of air to the interior of said beater where it will be discharged from the periphery thereof, a casing surrounding said beater, and a shaft for said beater, said casing including apertures through which said shaft extends, said apertures being of larger size than said shaft to admitair to the ends of the beater.

2. In a cotton picking machine comprising a skeleton type beater, a shaft supporting said beater for rotation, means for feeding textile fibers to said beater and a casing for said beater, a, construction in which said beater is closed against the flow of air through its ends into the interior of the beater body where it will be discharged at the periphery of said beater, the beater including circular end disks having an outside diameter approximately equal to the maximum outside diameter of the fiber working peripheral area of the beater, said casing being provided with apertures which admit air to the ends of the beater.

3. In a cotton picking machine, the combination of a beater of the skeleton type, a shaft supporting said beater for rotation, means for In other words, this feeding textile fibers to said beater, means supporting said shaft for adjustment to vary the spacing of said beater from said feeding means, a casing forsaid beater, and circular disks secured fast on the opposite ends of said beater, each of said. disks having a radius approximately equal to that of the path of revolution of the ends of the fiber working elements of the beater, said disks cooperating with said shaft to close the beater against the passage of air therethrough fromits ends to the peripheral surface of the beater, said casing being provided with apertures which admit air to the ends of said beater.

4; A carding beater for cotton working machines, said beater having a plurality of arms spaced apart circumferentially and the circumferential surfaces of said arms carrying carding elements, circular imperforate disks at the opposite ends of said heater, the peripheral edges of said disk being approximately flush with the ends of said carding elements, a shaft supporting said beater and also closed against the flow of air therethrough to its peripheral surface, a casing surrounding said beater, said casing including apertures through which said shaft extends, and said apertures being of larger size than said shaft to admit air to the ends of the beater.

ROBERT S. CURLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 321,851 Potter July 7, 1885 321,852 Potter July 7, 1885 531,193 Kirschner Dec, 18, 1894 219,259 I-Iasie I Sept. 2, 1879 1,667,505 Assiter Apr. 24, 1928 1,666,891 Donner Apr. 24, 1928 2,274,360 Conley Feb. 24, 1942 

